NBA Playoffs 2012: Key Matchups for Spurs vs. Clippers

The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers will begin their Western Conference semifinals tonight in Texas.

These teams took extremely different routes to get to this point.

The Spurs were on cruise control all season, led by their balanced attack and their trio of stars in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They swept the Utah Jazz and seemed like they barely broke a sweat. They had a 50-win regular season and look to be firing on all cylinders.

Meanwhile, the upstart Clippers made the postseason for the first time since 2005-2006. They are led by superstars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

The series should favor the Spurs based on their dominance this season and their extensive postseason experience.

However, a team playing with house money like the Clippers could be very dangerous.

Tony Parker vs. Chris Paul

San Antonio averaged 103.7 points per game this season, and much of that was due to the incredible facilitating skills of veteran point guard Tony Parker. The 6'2" native of Belgium led the Spurs in scoring and assists averaging 18.3 points and 7.7 assists per contest.

Parker had a terrific first round, averaging 21 points over the four-game stretch and is playing as well as he has at any point in his career. He's elusive and has great court vision, which allows him to drive to the basket or make accurate passes to the Spurs' top shooters.

He's not a great shooter, as evidenced by his 23 percent three-point shooting and his mediocre 79 percent free throws. Parker is most dangerous inside the paint making difficult shots.

Chris Paul is one of the top points guards in the NBA.

In his first season with the Clippers, he averaged 19.8 points to go along with 9.1 assists per game. He was an MVP candidate and played tremendous during the seven-game series victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Paul will have a lot of pressure on him to out-perform Parker in this series and the Clippers offense is extremely dependent on him.

These two will be a huge matchup to watch.

Paul is a better defender and has the ability to make some game-changing steals as he averaged 2.5 steals per game against Parker's 0.8.

Blake Griffin vs. Tim Duncan

Blake Griffin receives much praise on SportsCenter for his dunking prowess, but has become a much more well-rounded player this season. The 23-year-old Griffin was a force all season, averaging 20.7 points per game to go along with 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists on 54.9 percent shooting.

Griffin will have the tall order of going against three-time Finals MVP Tim Duncan. Although Duncan is 36 years old, he remains a potent scorer and rebounder. Duncan is also incredibly savvy and will know when to foul Griffin and exploit his 59 percent free-throw shooting.

This will be a good matchup, but Griffin will almost certainly have help on Duncan with Kenyon Martin and DeAndre Jordan who are physical players that can offer help in the post.

Griffin may have a great deal of trouble early in the series attempting to defend Duncan's bank shot, but must avoid early foul trouble so the Clippers can have his defense and scoring ability in the fourth quarter.

Spurs Bench vs Clippers Bench

Both teams have quality bench performers, but the Spurs simply have too many weapons and have great chemistry.

They averaged 46 points per game from their bench during the first round.

Manu Ginobili could be a starter for many teams at this point in his career, and was a starter on the Spurs' championship clubs. He has averaged 8.0 points per game, but is not the only weapon.

Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal, Matt Bonner, Stephen Jackson and DeJuan Blair play cohesively together and offer a big advantage over the Clippers if any of the starters are underperforming or in foul trouble.

The Clippers bench was also solid in the first round, averaging 31.7 points per game. In Game 1 of the series—which featured their historic comeback—they featured terrific play from Nick Young, Eric Bledsoe and Mo Williams.

L.A. will rely on Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans to play tough in the post, and they make take on a major role if Griffin gets in foul trouble

Vinny Del Negro vs. Gregg Popovich

On paper, this is not a question.

Gregg Popovich won Coach of the Year this season and has four NBA titles. He knows how to handle his players, especially how to keep his veterans fresh.

He will certainly devise a smart game-plan on how to exploit the poor free-throw shooting of the Clippers and how to mitigate the contribution of Chris Paul.

Vinny Del Negro does not have the coaching pedigree that Popovich has, but can seriously boost his credentials with a series win. He will have his hands full, but he must come up with a way to limit the dominance of Duncan and how to limit the incredible bench of the Spurs.

A serious advantage goes to the Spurs, but stranger things have happened.